EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — The Edmonton Oilers lost both a game and another superstar Thursday, falling 4-3 in overtime to the Winnipeg Jets after Connor McDavid left with a lower-body injury.
McDavid exited following a second-period collision with Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey.
The Oilers were already without NHL-leading goal scorer Leon Draisaitl (lower body). Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said Friday that both players will likely be out at least a week.
“I’d say day to day, maybe a week (for McDavid) and Leon same kind of timeline,” Knoblauch said. “They’ll be probably out up to a week.”
The Oilers also lost starting goaltender Stuart Skinner late in the third period against the Jets, but Knoblauch said he will be available Saturday against the Seattle Kraken.
Skinner was pulled by the concussion spotter, a decision Knoblauch said postgame he would not have made. Skinner also disagreed with the decision.
“Stu is fine and eligible to play tomorrow night,” added Knoblauch.
Draisaitl, who leads the league with 49 goals, was hurt Tuesday in Edmonton’s 7-1 win over Utah. He showed some discomfort but finished the game.
“They reevaluated and figured out it was more than they anticipated,” Knoblauch said on Draisaitl’s injury.
Veteran forward Derek Ryan, who was called up Tuesday but hasn’t played, will likely slot into the lineup Saturday.
Jeff Skinner, a former 40-goal scorer, stepped up by scoring twice in a bigger role.
“It was only a matter of time before he put the puck in the net,” Knoblauch said.
Skinner has been a healthy scratch several times this season after signing as a free agent in the summer.
The 32-year-old has 13 goals in 59 games this season.
“He’s done it so many times, and we need them,” Knoblauch said. “Especially right now with the injuries that we have, we’ll need guys stepping up. And he’s one of those guys we’ll be looking to play a big role.”
Evander Kane, on long-term injured reserve after undergoing abdominal surgery in September and knee surgery in January, is back skating with the team.
For now, he has been practicing in small groups and participating in light skates, but his progression seems “optimistic,” according to Knoblauch.
“He’ll be joining regular practices, and you know he’s been putting in the work and getting ready to play, and hopefully sometime during the playoffs, he’s available for us,” he said.
“He’s a world-class athlete, world-class player. Last year, he battled through a lot of injuries and now surgeries. Hopefully, he can be healthy and ready for us. Obviously, he could make a huge impact on our team.”
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Edmonton Oilers' Leon Draisaitl (29) skates against the Utah Hockey Club during first period NHL action in Edmonton on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)
Edmonton Oilers' Connor McDavid skates on the ice after scoring during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the New York Rangers Sunday, March 16, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.
The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.
The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.
The U.S.-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Islamic State group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria's national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.
The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”
The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.
Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.
The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.
On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.
Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.
“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”
Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.
Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.
“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.
Associated Press journalist Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.
Sandbag barriers used as fighting positions by Kurdish fighters, left inside a destroyed mosque in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Burned vehicles at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
People flee the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
A Syrian military police convoy enters the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Burned vehicles and ammunitions left at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
